Settling In

We have arrived safely in Melbourne, but not without incident... The flight to New Jersey was supposed to be a quick 2.5 hours, it turned into a 4.5 hour death flight and we couldn't land because of terrible weather and to top it off the piolet had the curtosy to let everyone know that we were running out of fuel so we had to land in a place called Allanstown. I'm not sure where that is, but, we didn't stay there long before air traffic control sent us back up into the death trap. We headed back to Newark, and then as we were about to land on the landing strip, had to ascend immediatley in order to avoid a wind tunnel. At this point I'm thinking "There is no way we are getting to Australia." But out loud I was helping to talk Chantal down from a crazy panick attack, which is amazing, because I didn't even believe a word that I was reassuring her with. Regardless, we landed, and after some vomiting we came to realize we missed our flight to L.A. Great. They got us on the next flight right away, we believe this is where CHantals luggage may have gotten lost... that's right. Half of our gear is somewhere between here and Nova Scotia, along with all of Chan's personal belongings, and everything she owns in this world. The rest of our journey was great, I have probably (maybe) gotten rid of a lot of my anxiety about flying, just for the sheer fact that I feel like I may have cheated death. We had a small 2 hour delay in L.A., there were some mechanics working on the wing of the plane. Better safe, right? The 18 hour flight across the Pacific was amazing, we sat next to a cheerful Aussie that we had a good laugh with, and we got to know him quite well, when we were not sleeping. He owns a guitar shop in South Sydney and offered us a Ukulele when we arrive, so We traded information, so on our travels we will hopefully see him and meet his wife! 

Currently we are staying in a hostel call St Kilda Beach House. We got a taxi here, which was a steep A$55, but Australia is a lot more expensive than I had anticipated, I had been warned... but I guess I had to see for myself. It is beautiful here, we have already met quite a few people last night, as our bar seems to be the most happening place in the area. My jet lag is mad though, I fell asleep at 10:00 last night and woke up at 4:30 this morning... I just have to get out and maybe go for a swim. It's a little chilly here in the morning, the water is definitely colder than I thought it was going to be... 

The receptionist tells us that at dawn there are some penguins that march across the beach that is right around the corner, so if we are lucky enough to catch that, I will post a picture. Chantal and I are going to spend the day exploring, and hopefully buying flipflops, razors, and underwear, seeing as how the airport still has had no sign of her bag. Good thing she has luggage insurance, tip for travelling BUY LUGGAGE INSURANCE!